then the 2000 presidential election came along and then texas governor george w. bush going up against al gore said, quote, my opponent believes the government owns the surplus. i believe the surplus is the people's money and we ought to handsome of it back, end quote. and hand it back, newly elected bush eventually did. he was able to pass two tax cuts. in 2001 and 2003. there were more of them in 2006. they did it flew a process called reconciliation. that's the same process used to pass health care reform. now, the tax cuts first expiration date was back in 2010. the cuts were then extended for another two years after vice president biden and senator mitch mcconnell brokered a deal. that brings us to the president's new call to extend those rates, but only for people making less than $250,000. a lot of claims are being thrown back and forth. we wanted to break down fact and fiction. let's listen first to what the president had to say yesterday. >> what's holding us back from meeting these challenges. it's not a lack of plans. it's not a lack of ideas. is it a s